CENTRAL REGIONAL 4A BOYS: Montgomery Academy eases past Lee-Scott; Midfield wins on a tip-in to beat Hale County

Mason Ellis shoots a jumper in the Montgomery Academy Eagles’ win over Lee-Scott Academy on Wednesday at the Alabama State University Dunn-Oliver Acadome. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

After a poor shooting first quarter, Montgomery Academy found itself trailing Lee-Scott Academy 5-3 in the Central Regional semifinals at Alabama State’s Dunn-Oliver Acadome on Wednesday morning.

“We tried to make a conscious effort, first possession, to try to go in to ‘Bray’ (Braden Gordon) and Lee-Scott did a good job,” Montgomery Academy coach Jeremy Arant said. “Early on, it was 5-3 and we were pressing a little bit. And they were playing well. They were defending. Coach (William) Johnson does a great job. He’s a great coach. They were making it really tough on us in the beginning.

“As the game opened up, you start to see our guys get comfortable.”

The one guy that seemed comfortable throughout the game was sophomore point guard Mason Ellis, who drove to the basket repeatedly in the Eagles’ 62-47 win over the Warriors.

“I just try to find my rhythm within the team, don’t try to go when it’s not needed,” Ellis said. “I feel consistency is the key, so it’s me trying to find myself within the team and within the game. When I see other people aren’t going, I’m going to try and get more.”

Gordon, JayJay Jackson and Will Renfroe combined to shoot 2 of 9 from the field, yet the Eagles led 24-14, in part because of a stellar defensive effort against the Warriors but largely on the strength of Ellis, who was spectacular on his drives through the paint for fiercely contested layups.

“He weathered the storm for us in the first half,” Arant said. “In the first half, you could see him click, ‘OK, I’ve got to go.’ He said I’ve got to keep us in it or I’ve got to push us over the top. In the second half, ‘Bray’ got involved, Jarrett (Friendly) got involved. Once we were able to get it open, they had to pressure us a little more.”

The biggest concern came late in the first quarter when Ellis landed hard after he was fouled on a drive through the lane. His left shoulder, still in a harness and recovering from a labrum injury suffered in December, left him wincing in pain, his teammates having to pick him up without pulling on his left hand.

“Obviously, we were really concerned,” Arant said. “He’s playing through it. He’s been playing through it since Christmas. But he’s tough. He’s played through a lot this year.”

Ellis would later spend a few moments on the bench after getting poked in the eye by a Lee-Scott player, but he returned to the floor both times.

“It’s just fighting through it mentally,” Ellis said. “I try not to be soft. That’s the big thing I’m working with. Coach told me to be mentally strong, so I try to do that, push through different stuff.”

Despite the early jitters, the Eagles found their rhythm quickly in the second quarter, thanks to Ellis.

“I wouldn’t say it was jitters, I would say we hadn’t played in a minute and there were a couple of days off, so we were locking in mentally,” Friendly said. “To get back moving like that, playing a good team like that, it just took us a second to get going.”

In the third quarter, as the two teams battled evenly, Arant gave a lot of credit to Jackson, whose back-to-back 3-pointers reestablished control for the Eagles.

“He came down and nailed two huge 3s in the third quarter,” Arant said. “They were getting to the free-throw line, getting it to eight or nine, and he hits those 3s and pushes it back to a comfortable 13.”

The Eagles avenged an early-season loss to the Warriors, a game in which Friendly and Gordon played sparingly in their transition from football and Ellis sat out with an injury. On Wednesday, the Eagles’ point guard played through the injury and remained in the game to lead his team to victory.

“I feel like he played amazing,” Friendly said. “I knew he was going to have a hell of a game. He’s a great point guard, a great leader on the team and I know I can always count on him to do something.”

Ellis led the Eagles with 21 points, hitting 9 of 14 shots from the field, along with three steals, two rebounds and two assists. Friendly added 14 points, 16 rebounds, four blocked shots and an assist, followed by Gordon with 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block and Jackson with eight points and two assists.  

Haiden Harper led Lee-Scott with 13 points, followed by Wyatt Whatley with 10.  

Montgomery Academy (25-7) advances to the Central Regional finals on Tuesday against Midfield (20-8), which upset Hale County 75-73 on a last second tipin by Antonio Anderson. The two teams battle on Tuesday at 10:45 a.m. Lee-Scott Academy ends the season at 24-5.

Midfield 75, Hale County 73

Midfield got a tip in from Antonio Anderson with one second remaining to earn a two-point win over Hale County in the boys Class 4A Central semifinal at Alabama State on Wednesday.

Hale County led for the majority of the fourth quarter until Midfield made a run to tie the game with just under a minute to play.

Midfield got 31 points from Aaron Adams-Martin which included five 3-points and 8-of-11 free throws. Jaylin King added 20 points.

Gage Mayfield paced Hale County (25-7) with 25 points while Zamarion Johnson added 21.

Midfield (20-8) will face Montgomery Academy in the Class 4A regional final on Tuesday.